The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesting machines, and more specifically to an adjustable doffer column for a cotton picker.
A typical cotton picker includes a cotton picking drum mounted on an upright axis with a plurality of columns of vertically spaced and laterally extending cotton picker spindles. As the harvester advances in the field, the drum is rotated to move the cotton picker spindles from a position engaging the cotton plant to a position within in a row unit housing adjacent a doffing mechanism which dislodges the cotton from the spindles. The doffing mechanism includes an upright shaft with a plurality of vertically spaced doffer pads. Each pad is adapted to engage a row of picker spindles to remove the cotton by wiping or brushing the cotton from the spindles.
With such a conventional apparatus, it is extremely important that the doffer pads be correctly adjusted with respect to the rows of spindles to ensure complete doffing of the cotton from the spindles while at the same time preventing excessive contact of the pads with the spindles which would result in premature doffer pad deterioration and specking of the cotton.
Conventional doffer pad assemblies must be adjusted periodically by the operator to accommodate wear of the doffer pads. A conventional cotton harvester includes two picking drums per row with a doffer column associated with each of the drums, and therefore the periodic adjustment of the doffer assemblies can be relatively time-consuming and result in decreased productivity of the cotton harvester.